On Becoming a Chicano was a hard read for me. I grew up in a small town where the only label was "hick" or "redneck". Most of the people that grew up there stayed there. Since I moved to St. Joseph I have seen and heard a lot of labels. Some not nice at all. The one thing that gets me are the people that have those not nice labels and they do nothing to change their lives or the lives of their children. I have also seen lots of people that work very hard to stay away from all labels.
Rodriguez struggled his entire life, not knowing who he was. He was who they made him into. He lost his sense of security when his parents stopped speaking English around him. I don't know that he ever got that security back his entire life. I feel he struggles with who he used to be with his Chicano past and who he has struggled to be as an American.
Hi Cristina,
ReplyDeleteYou write,
"Rodriguez struggled his entire life, not knowing who he was. He was who they made him into. He lost his sense of security when his parents stopped speaking English around him. I don't know that he ever got that security back his entire life. I feel he struggles with who he used to be with his Chicano past and who he has struggled to be as an American."
Like Rodriguez, we all have many many labels; however, he has more closely tied to his race: Gringo, Chicano, Chicano intellectual, etc. For those of us who are predominantly white, we may not understand how it affects Rodriguez. How do you think it affects him? How does he feel among his community? Among a white community? Why?
I think he is confused because he sees his Mexican family and how they act and talk, yet he has always been taught to be more white. Among his community and the white community he feels kind of separated or like he doesn't quite belong to either community. I think it affects him by confusing him about where he actually belongs.
ReplyDeleteIt does. I feel sorry for those who are in his position. I am someone who believes that we should learn another language not to advance on our own behalf, but to become more worldly and accepting of other cultures. Too many times when others emigrate to the U.S. do they ignore their own culture. I am not one to suggest that they should not learn English, I believe they should; however, I feel that they should also work to maintain their own culture. It can be difficult.
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